Local AWS, sharpened for real engineering loops

Build locally.
Deploy realistically.
Verify externally.

Stratus emulates your AWS stack locally. Preflight verifies that it actually works before you deploy.

What this is

Stratus and Preflight give developers a credible local AWS delivery loop.

One product gives you fast local execution and compatibility. The other gives you external proof that the path really works.

Stratus solves execution

Local execution and compatibility for real AWS-shaped workflows.

Run AWS-shaped infrastructure locally
Use real tooling like AWS CLI, SDKs, and CDK
Get fast feedback without deploying to AWS
Reproduce failures in a deterministic environment

Preflight solves trust

External verification before you decide the stack is ready.

Prove the stack actually works, not just that resources were created
Validate structure, wiring, IAM, and behavior from the outside
Add optional AI-assisted diagnosis when something fails
Catch compatibility regressions before cloud deployment

service families live

Focused breadth with real contract pressure instead of fake parity.

CLI / SDK / CDK

real client compatibility

AWS CLI, Java SDK smoke, CDK deploys, Preflight validation, and a release gate.

1 binary

operationally simple

Core control plane boots locally with one data dir and optional Docker for Lambda.

Stratus

A local AWS control plane built for fast loops, not vague demos.

Request classification is explicit, service semantics stay isolated, metadata lives in bbolt, large payloads live on disk, and failures are shaped to be understandable.

Preflight

An external validator that keeps the emulator honest.

Preflight treats Stratus as a consumer would. It deploys, probes, and verifies structural, wiring, IAM, and behavioural paths without reaching into implementation internals, and it can attach optional AI-assisted diagnosis when assertions fail.

Compatibility before cleverness

A narrower surface with harder guarantees.

The architecture is intentionally plain: a `net/http` front door, explicit request classification, isolated service semantics, bbolt-backed metadata, filesystem blobs, and Docker only where Lambda execution actually needs it.

STSS3LambdaDynamoDBSQSIAMCloudFormationAPI GatewayEventBridgeStep FunctionsKinesisSecrets Manager

How the loop works

Emulate, deploy, verify, repeat.

Boot Stratus locally

Run one process, point standard AWS tooling at it, and get an operator-friendly terminal view instead of silent middleware soup.

Deploy a real path

Use AWS CLI, SDKs, or CDK against the emulator. The happy path is intentional: API Gateway to Lambda to SQS to Lambda to DynamoDB.

Let Preflight verify behavior

Preflight catches the difference between metadata-looking-correct and the actual path working end to end.

Proof paths

Real tooling, not emulator theater.

The product claim is backed by one explicit loop: Java SDK, CDK, Preflight, then the release gate that runs them together.

Maven fixture

Java SDK smoke

A real AWS SDK for Java v2 fixture proves STS, DynamoDB, SQS, and S3 over a network boundary instead of through mocks.

Bootstrapless CDK

CDK deploy path

The inline HTTP API stack deploys through CloudFormation and resolves into a live execute-api path in the emulator.

Black-box validation + diagnosis

Preflight gate

Use the external validator to assert structural, wiring, IAM, and behavioural guarantees, then layer in optional AI-assisted diagnosis to speed up failure analysis.

CI-ready proof loop

Release gate

The release gate runs the Java SDK smoke and the external Preflight CDK smoke together so compatibility is continuously re-proven.

Validated loop

The same stack gets pressure from multiple directions.

Java SDK over the network

A real AWS SDK for Java v2 fixture talks to Stratus through STS, DynamoDB, SQS, and S3 instead of through mocks.

client compatibility

CDK deploy into the emulator

A bootstrapless CDK fixture deploys a live local path through CloudFormation into API Gateway, Lambda, SQS, and DynamoDB.

deploy realism

Preflight checks the real path

Preflight lints readiness, then validates structural, wiring, IAM, and behavioural assertions against the deployed stack.

external verification

Release gate runs the loop together

The release gate chains the Java SDK smoke and the external Preflight CDK smoke before changes should be trusted.

proof, not promises

Built for AWS-compatible local workflows

AWS CLIAWS SDKsAWS CDKTerraformPreflight

Open source stack

Emulate locally. Verify externally.

Stratus gives you the local AWS control plane. Preflight gives you the external pressure that keeps the claim credible.

After validating locally, you can deploy to AWS with Kanu.

View Stratus Repo View Preflight Repo